Posted on August 30th, 2010
In March of this year, Merlin Olsen, a star football and sportscaster, died of mesothelioma. Reading his story reminded me of a conversation I had with my dad about asbestosis and some sort of legal action against the Milwaukee Railroad where he worked for over 30 years. After learning more about mesothelioma from visiting the Mesothelioma Foundation’s website, I decided I needed to know more about my dad’s condition.
What is asbestosis and mesothelioma? Asbestosis is an inflammation of the lungs resulting from chronic inhalation of asbestos1 particles. Mesothelioma is a tumor of the mesothelium, which is the tissue made up of a layer of cells called mesothelial cells that line the chest cavity, abdominal cavity, and the sac around the heart2. The malignant form is often the result of exposure to asbestos and may take more than 30 years to develop.
In 2000, my dad was contacted by the Moody Law Firm, the designated Asbestos Counsel for NARVRE (National Association of Retired & Veteran Railway Employees, Inc.), concerning a class action lawsuit filed against the manufacturers of asbestos on behalf of retired railroad workers. At first my dad was skeptical because he didn’t want to get involved in medical testing and court hearings for something he didn’t believe had affected him. He knew he had been exposed to asbestos, and he had a chronic cough and minor bouts of bronchitis. He preferred to think of it as a genetic predisposition, since his own father had emphysema at the time of his death. Grandpa, too, had worked around steam engines that fired on steam boilers containing asbestos. One major difference in their exposure was my grandfather often performed his job inside the roundhouse, making him a captive audience for the asbestos particles.
Following a phone call from the attorney’s office encouraging him to at least have a chest x-ray, Dad agreed. He first received a chest x-ray at a nearby clinic followed by a physical examination by a pulmonologist, an expert in the field of asbestosis. My father was very surprised to learn the tests confirmed the presence of asbestosis in his lungs.
My father was interviewed by the attorneys to determine the places he may have worked around asbestos. He named several different locations:
- He worked near the steam lines on passenger train cars, which were insulated with asbestos.
- He laid steam pipes wrapped in asbestos.
- A major function of his job was to change brake shoes, which contained asbestos
- Train derailments exposed and broke up asbestos, contaminating the surrounding air.
- The wreckers he used at derailments to upright train cars were powered by steam, and he often stood next to those asbestos lined pipes.
As was previously mentioned, my grandfather had emphysema at the time of his death. He struggled with wheezing, shortness of breath, and unbelievable coughing spasms during the last years of his life, which were symptoms of asbestosis. Knowing what we know now about asbestosis and mesothelioma, my grandfather surely had at least one of these conditions.
Through the years while this class action lawsuit was developing, asbestos manufacturers went bankrupt and the Milwaukee Railroad (my father and grandfather’s employer) was sold to the Soo Line Railroad Company. Later the Soo Line was sold to the Canadian National Railway. The awards continue to dribble in at a snail’s pace as the remaining assets of manufacturer by manufacturer are doled out at pennies on the dollar.
My father continues to fare well without sign of catastrophic health issues, and we are grateful. However, thousands of others exposed to asbestos have suffered irreparable harm.
We are often upset by the time and cost of proving products safe for the environment and humans. We even wonder if such efforts are necessary. Just ask one person affected by mesothelioma if they wish they had known the inherent perils of asbestos. My guess would be that there is a resounding roar of affirmation.
